Gender & Small Arms

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Issue:

103

1. EDITORIAL
Sam Cook

In this edition of the 1325 PeaceWomen E-News we once again take forward the idea that comprehensive implementation of Resolution 1325 requires an appreciation of the broad range of issues within the resolution's sphere of relevance. Our news section (Item 2) provides examples of a diversity of issues from all regions of the world. Many of the news stories relate to the particular impact of conflict on women and the need for protection– including the prevalence of sexual violence in conflicts in CAR and Zimbabwe. The news items on transitional justice processes in Indonesia in Nepal are also reminders of the work being done to end impunity for such violations. There is also evidence of the continuing challenge of working for women's equal political participation – as reflected in the results of the recent elections in Sierra Leone. There are, however, also encouraging signs of progress and exciting initiatives being taken to advance the women, peace and security agenda. These range from consultations with women's groups in Uganda held by the International Criminal Court to a gathering of women's rights ministers in the Great Lakes region to set up a women's rights research and documentation centre focused on post-conflict reconstruction. These initiatives are also a reminder of the need to focus on specific issue areas and to go beyond broad and general promotion or support of SCR 1325.

The focus of this edition of the E-News – small arms – is one such area in which it is important to take a gender perspective and in relation to which it is vital to take into account the interests, concerns and perspectives of women. An opportunity to do just this was provided by the recent Third Biennial Meeting of States (BMS) on Small Arms and Light Weapons, held at the United Nations in New York during July. The Women's Network of the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) took up this challenge and our thanks go to network coordinator Sarah Masters for her excellent review of the meeting and the work of the network and its members in our Feature Event section (see Item 3). Our sister project in WILPF – Reaching Critical Will (RCW) – was also actively engaged in this meeting and our Feature Resources section (Item 5) provides links to the Small Arms Monitor co-published by RCW. Published daily and providing reports and comprehensive coverage of the conference, it is an example of the invaluable work being done by civil society to make UN proceedings accessible and comprehensible to those working on these issues around the world.

In her statement to the conference – this month's Feature Statement (Item 4) – WILPF and IANSA member Marie-Claire Faray emphasized the impact of small arms on women in Central Africa. Her statement gives powerful examples of this impact and the interconnectedness of small arms and domestic and sexual violence. Beyond giving examples of incidence of violence, however, Ms Faray notes the important progress made in harmonizing arms control and domestic violence policies and legislation – a topic also taken up in side events held during the conference. Ms Faray's statement also suggests ways in which the Security Council can meet its commitment to integrate SCR 1325 in its day-to-day work. That is, through ensuring that issues such as violence against women are taken into account in the Council's consideration of small-arms trafficking and the imposition of arms embargoes.

As vital as it is to consider gender and small arms from the perspective of the impact of these weapons on women, the IANSA review notes the dangers of seeing gender as being only about women's vulnerability. Taking gender properly into account means also acknowledging that victims of armed violence are overwhelmingly men. It means also acknowledging women as agents of change and “a key resource in combating such violence.” The role of women as leaders is then the other important aspect of this edition of the E-News. In particular, our Gender and Peacekeeping Update (Item 7) features an exciting new resource from Women in International Security. In examining the challenges limiting women's leadership opportunities within UN peace operations, this report notes that women are, in this arena too, “an untapped and potentially powerful resource.” Women's leadership initiatives and engagement in security issues are also the focus of this month's Feature Initiatives section (Item 6). The blog by the Nobel Women's Initiative delegation to Thailand, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Chad during the course of their journey provides a powerful window into the work of women peacebuilders. Another opportunity for engagement in peace and justice efforts that is also featured here is the Global Justice for Burma Campaign's Petition to urge Security Council action on Burma.

Finally, this month's E-News is an opportunity for us, on behalf of the members of the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, to thank and bid farewell to our group coordinator Gina Torry who has been a valued part of our team for the last 3 years. We are, however, also very excited to be welcoming our new coordinator Sarah Taylor and look forward to working with her and benefiting from her research knowledge and experience – particularly in the area of women's political participation.

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As always, we welcome your contributions to the newsletter's content. Contributions for the September edition should be sent to enewssubmissions@peacewomen.org by Thursday 18 September 2008.

2. WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY NEWS

GREAT LAKES: AFRICAN GREAT LAKES OFFICIALS AT UN GATHERING ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS RESEARCH CENTRE
July 24, 2008 (UN News Service) - Women's rights ministers from 11 countries across Africa's Great Lakes region are gathering today in Kinshasa for a United Nations-organized conference to take steps to set up a regional research and documentation centre on women's rights which would have a particular focus on the role of women in the reconstruction of countries emerging from conflict, which has plagued the region.

UGANDA: ICC INVOLVES WOMEN IN THE ACHOLI AND LANGO SUB-REGIONS OF NORTHERN UGANDA IN DISCUSSION ABOUT THE COURT
July 14, 2008 (ICC) - On 5 and 6 July 2008, the International Criminal Court's (ICC) Outreach Unit in Uganda, in co-operation with the Coalition of Women's Organisations facilitated four interactive sessions for 160 women's groups representatives from 30 sub-counties and parishes in the districts of Gulu, Amuru and Soroti in the Acholi and Teso sub-regions of northern and north-eastern Uganda.

CAR: LRA REBEL THREAT HAUNTS CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
July 8, 2008 – (Mail & Guardian Online) Abducted, robbed and raped this year by raiding Ugandan rebels, villagers in a remote south-east corner of the Central African Republic (CAR) live in daily fear their attackers will return. In February and March, several hundred fighters of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group entered the Central African Republic from their forest bases in north Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), looting homes and abducting civilians. Most of the LRA's captives were women and children who UN officials believe were taken to be used as sex slaves and child soldiers.

DRC: GENDER - TRAINING OF TRAINERS FOR NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON UN RESOLUTION 1325
July 4, 2008 (AllAfrica.com) With the support of MONUC's Gender Office, the DRC Gender, Family and Children Ministry from 28 June to 1 July 2008 trained the heads of the provincial Gender ministries and civil society activists from all the DRC's 11 provinces on resolution 1325, which relates to the impact of war and conflict on women.

SIERRA LEONE: WOMEN CANDIDATES PROGRESS, BUT NOT ENOUGH
August 2, 2008 – (IPS) Official results from the July 2008 local council elections in Sierra Leone have been announced by the chairperson of the country's National Electoral Commission. Despite numerous reports of harassment and intimidation, more women were elected to councils than in polls four years ago. But results fell short of the 30 percent representation set by gender activists.

MAURITANIA: WOMEN'S GROUP CONDEMNS THE COUP D'ÉTAT
August 8, 2008 - (WLUML) L'Association des Femmes Chefs de Famille (AFCF) strongly condemns the coup d'état that took place in Mauritania on Wednesday August 6, 2008 in contempt of the democratic choices expressed by the people of Mauritania after a long period of dictatorship and instability.

SIERRA LEONE: POLICE IN SIERRA LEONE ADOPT UN-DRAFTED GUIDELINES ON SEXUAL ABUSE
July 28, 2008 – (UN News Center) Sierra Leonean police have adopted new policy guidelines on sexual abuse and exploitation that have been drafted by United Nations officials as part of their efforts to reduce the widespread levels of violence against women and girls in the West African country.

LIBERIA: GOVT. RESPONSE TO HIV UNACCEPTABLE - ACTIONAID
June 11, 2008 – (The News) The Liberian Government has been challenged to seek more acceptable means of responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the country that addresses the needs of Liberian women. In a statement issued early this week at the start of a 10-day rights-based training on HIV/AIDS programming at Cuttington University, ActionAid Liberia Country Representative Ernest Gaie, said the HIV situation in the country has a 'woman face' and little is being done to address it.

ZIMBABWE YOUTH MILITIAS ACCUSED OF HOLDING WOMEN AS SEX SLAVES
July 7, 2008 – (Los Angeles Times) Asiatu, 21, is a prisoner of the comrades at a command base of the ruling ZANU-PF party, one of 900 such camps set up by the party to terrorize Zimbabweans into voting for Robert Mugabe in the one-man presidential runoff late last month and extending his 28-year rule. She has to call the young men her "comrades." She cooks food for the comrades and serves them. She sweeps the comrades' floor and cleans up after them. And whenever any of the comrades want sex, she is raped.

ZIMBABWE: 'WOMEN SHARE UNDERWEAR IN OUR JAILS'
July 5, 2008 - (Zimbabwe Standard) Few women would ever imagine the prospect of sharing underwear with friends, let alone strangers. But the astounding reality, Jenni Williams, a pro-democracy and women's activist, found recently, is that there are many women who are desperate to lay their hands on used panties. Williams, the leader of a pressure group that has been a thorn in government's side, Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) returned from Chikurubi maximum prison on Thursday to tell a shocking story about how jailed women were living in Zimbabwe's prisons.

INDONESIA: INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT ACCEPTS CHARGES OF EAST TIMOR BRUTALITY
July 15, 2008 – (Los Angeles Times) Indonesia's president formally accepted today a commission report that blames his country's security forces for supporting militias in a frenzy of murder, rape and other crimes against humanity in East Timor nine years ago.

TIMOR-LESTE: IN A ‘WISE” MOVE TIMORESE WOMEN VENTURE INTO BUSINESS AFTER DECADES OF CONFLICT
July 14, 2008 – (UNDP) When Timor-Leste descended into a political crisis in April/May 2006, just five years after the restoration of independence from Indonesia, Mrs. Joaquina Da Silva, a 33 year-old mother of four was among the first group of women displaced from the capital, Dili. She then fled to the safe havens of Baucau which is her ancestral homeland.

NEPAL: GENDER AND TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE IN NEPAL
July 9, 2008 - (Telegraph Nepal) The world has seen many forms of conflict, from rifts between tribes of one community, to large scale atrocities to arbitrary war. Whatever be the case, destructive and violent conflict leaves deeper wounds than just those visible from the surface. The Nepalese internal conflict between the Maoist and state forces which lasted 13 years left approximately 13,000 dead and between 100,000 to 200,000 displaced. The “Peoples war” is internationally known for the overwhelming number of disappearances especially between 2002-2003 as reported by United Nations Working Group on Enforced and Voluntary Disappearances.

WOMEN'S MINISTRIES COME TOGETHER TO STRENGTHEN GENDER EQUALITY IN LATIN AMERICA
July 1, 2008 (INSTRAW) - Over the past 20 years national mechanisms for the promotion of women has been established throughout Latin America. Currently, those responsible for these mechanisms are building networks aimed at strengthening their political incidence and making gender equality policies a priority for all Latin American governments.

AFGHANISTAN: IOM ENGAGES RELIGIOUS LEADERS TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING, WELCOMES NEW COUNTER TRAFFICKING LAW
July 22, 2008 - (ReliefWeb) IOM [International Organization for Migration] and the Afghan Ministry of Hajj and Endowment are today holding a first-ever roundtable with religious leaders to discuss human trafficking in Afghanistan in the context of Islam.

LEBANON: WOMEN, NON-LEBANESE CHILDREN GET RAW DEAL
July 22, 2008 (IRIN) - Lebanese women cannot pass on their nationality to their children and in the event of separation, it is the father who gains automatic custody, according to Lebanese nationality law. There is a saying in Lebanon: The only woman you'll see in parliament is the one wearing black, mourning for the death of her husband or brother, whose political mantle she has inherited.

ISRAEL: LANGUAGE BARRIER, LACK OF TRANSPORT MEANS BEDOUIN WOMEN MISS OUT ON HEALTH CARE
July 21, 2008 (IRIN) - According to the Israeli Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), about 48 percent of Arab women in the unrecognised villages are unable to speak Hebrew. Of those who do speak it, most have only a limited knowledge.

AFGHANISTAN: RAPE ALLEGATIONS FORCE AFGHAN GOVERNMENT CRACKDOWN
August 11, 2008 (AP) — Rape — a crime long hidden in Afghanistan by victims fearing a life of scorn — is getting a public airing in this conservative Islamic country. In recent weeks, several outraged families have appeared on nightly news shows, demanding justice while sharing heartbreaking stories of sexual assaults on teenage daughters. Government officials say at least five rapes have been reported in the past four months, though they and women's rights groups say any reported statistics likely fall far short of reality.

IN SYRIAN REFUGE, WOMEN FIND BAREST SURVIVAL
August 11, 2008 (WomensE-News) - In a series of interviews with Iraqi refugees in Jaramana, a predominantly Sunni and Christian suburb of Damascus, and Sayyida Zaynab, a primarily Shiite suburb, Women's eNews spoke with women barely eking out a living from low-income jobs, international aid and sex work. Women such as Mohamed Ali, whose husbands are dead, missing or disabled, were hit the hardest.

BAGHDAD BEAUTY SALONS BACK IN BUSINESS
July 18, 2008 (IWPR) - Fundamentalists who view salons as anti-Islamic have threatened and killed hairstylists throughout Iraq over the past several years. But improved security in Baghdad has given many women the confidence to re-open their beauty businesses, particularly in wealthier areas, such as al-Mansur.

TV AND ONLINE TRAINING SEMINAR AIMS TO EQUIP WOMEN WITH THE SKILLS TO MAKE A BIGGER CONTRIBUTION TO IRAQI JOURNALISM OUTPUT
July 16, 2008 (IWPR) - Around 50 women journalists from the south of Iraq gathered in the northern city of Sulaimaniyah in June for training in television reporting and online journalism.

AFGHANISTAN: HIGH BIRTH RATE KILLING MOTHERS, INFANTS - UNFPA EXPERT
July 14, 2008 (IRIN) - After Sierra Leone, Afghanistan has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world with at least 1,600 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to UNFPA and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

BOSNIA- WAR SEX SLAVE STORY: 'EVERY DAY WE WERE RAPED'
July 22, 2008 - (CNN) The outbreak of war seemed like a joke to Jasmina, then just 19 years old. She dreamed of being an economist and says she played with her toddler son and baby daughter as if they were toys. But in April 1992, the Serb soldiers took over her city of Bijeljina, in northeast Bosnia near the border with Serbia, and began to kill, torture and terrorize the Muslims there in a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing.

BEHIND THE WOMAN BEHIND THE BOMB
August 2, 2008 – (The New York Times) Four more Iraqi women carried out suicide bombings in Iraq this week, bringing to at least 27 the number of such attacks this year in that country involving female terrorists. Anyone reading the newspapers or watching television has been treated to a flurry of popular misconceptions about the root causes of female suicide terrorism.

FOLLOWING GENERAL ASSEMBLY APPROVAL, SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS NAVANETHEM PILLAY OF SOUTH AFRICA AS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
July 28, 2008 – (Relief Web) The Secretary-General, following approval by the General Assembly, has appointed Navanethem (Navi) Pillay of South Africa as the new High Commissioner for Human Rights.

FEMALE SOLDIERS RAISE ALARM ON SEXUAL ASSAULTS
July 21, 2008 - (MSNBC) Even as women distinguish themselves in battle alongside men, they're fighting off sexual assault and harassment. It's not a new consequence of war. But the sheer number of women serving today — more than 190,000 so far in Iraq and Afghanistan — is forcing the military and Department of Veterans Affairs to more aggressively address it.

DEPARTING RIGHTS OFFICIAL LOUISE ARBOUR RAISED VOLUME ON ISSUES
July 6, 2008 - (New York Times) She has been doing a job with a mandate that many would call impossible: to safeguard human rights around the globe. Yet as Louise Arbour steps down after four years as the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, she is not entirely pessimistic.

ARGENTINA: FIRST REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON GENDER AND PEACEKEEPING (SCR 1325)
July 2008 - (Iansa.org) From 20-22 May 2008 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina (REMUI) organised the First Regional Workshop for the Development of a Gender Policy in the Framework of Peacekeeping Operations, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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3. Feature Event

IANSA Women at the Third Biennial Meeting of States (BMS) on Small Arms and Light Weapons
Sarah Masters, Women's Network Coordinator, International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA)
July 14-18, 2008

The United Nations Programme of Action on Small Arms (PoA) was agreed in 2001 and reviewed at the Third Biennial Meeting of States (BMS) on small arms. The PoA contains only one reference to gender, in paragraph 6 of the Preamble where States express grave concern about the devastating consequences of the illicit trade in small arms for children “as well as the negative impact on women and the elderly.” Men, who in numerical terms are the largest number of victims and perpetrators of armed violence, are not mentioned at all.

While women continue to be misrepresented as the largest number of victims of armed violence, their diverse disarmament, violence reduction and security related activities are marginalised and receive little or no support. Women's security work is usually referred to in passing, and women's resistance to armed violence is lost. Because the language of ‘vulnerability' prevails, it remains possible to portray women as being exactly like children and the elderly, hapless victims of prolific weapons, rather than a key resource in combating such violence.

At the 2006 Review Conference on Small Arms it was clear that a large number of States supported the addition of a reference to gender to the PoA, as a paragraph referring to gender and to UN SCR 1325 consistently appeared in a number of versions of the draft Outcome Document. However, States were unable to agree on any way forward and the Conference ended without an Outcome Document.

To build on progress made since 2001, over 15 members of the IANSA Women's Network (WN) participated in the Third Biennial Meeting of States (BMS) on Small Arms and Light Weapons, 14-18 July 2008. The four ‘priority themes' of the BMS were: Stockpile/management; International cooperation and assistance; Marking and Tracing; and Brokering. Undeterred by the technical focus of the meeting, together WN members developed a position paper and released a statement calling on States to include gender data in their national reports on the PoA, support research, and push for laws to prevent armed domestic violence.

We maintained momentum and raised concerns about armed violence against women and armed domestic violence. Rita Santos, from the Economic and Social Council in Portugal, commented that men keep guns at home for hunting and use them to intimidate their partners. Dr Mirjana Dokmanovic, a leading researcher from Serbia, described a "culture of guns" in post-war Serbia. Widad Akrawi of Defend International said that in the Middle East, guns are increasingly used by family members against women in honour killings. Other women from Brazil and Jamaica said that in their contexts many women gravitate toward gun-toting men for a sense of protection. Alba Zelaya, Director of Cemujer in El Salvador, cited shocking statistics. So far this year, 99 women have been killed in her country, and more than 80 percent of these died from gun violence. WN member Marie Claire Faray Kele gave a formal presentation to delegates on guns and both domestic and sexual violence. In her speech, Marie Claire, who is also a WILPF member, made reference to armed sexual violence against women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

During the week we held a very well attended side event, ‘The danger within: Disarming domestic violence' to raise some of the issues included in our position paper. Experts on the harmonisation of domestic violence laws and small arms legislation were interviewed in a talk show format by a US broadcast journalist. We highlighted the efforts of Australia, Canada, South Africa, and Trinidad and Tobago, four countries that have harmonised domestic violence and firearms laws. The side event showed that in many countries, the small arms policies most likely to protect women are those that focus on acquisition and possession in the home. Participants included Rebecca Peters, Director of IANSA; Dr Wendy Cukier, Professor, Ryerson University, Canada; Pauline Dempers, co-founder, Breaking the Wall of Silence, Namibia; and Dr Mirjana Dokmanovic, Consultant and Researcher, Victimology Society of Serbia.

We also developed a 'Clothesline Exhibition' - a visual display of women's clothing from around the world that represent women and girls affected by gun violence. The clothes were hung on a clothesline to be viewed by others in the form of a mobile exhibition as testimony to the impact of gun violence on women. Each piece of clothing included a note with details of women who were killed, testimonies from survivors and facts related to armed violence against women. This drew a lot of attention and many people commented on how powerful it was.

As a result of our efforts – past and present - gender was specifically mentioned by States such as Australia and Canada, and in the statement of Brazil on behalf of the countries of MERCOSUR. Australia also raised the need to link with SCR 1325 and SCR 1820, a recommendation that WN members were actively calling for and lobbying around. In addition, we are delighted that the final Outcome Document refers to both gender and civilian possession of weapons, both legally and illegally held, as well as victim assistance:

Plans are already underway to build on our work to date, and begin preparations for the next BMS. We hope to further strengthen our positions and be more involved in the preparatory process for the next meeting, as well as in the general UN small arms process.

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4. Feature Statement

The Impact of Small Arms on Women in Central Africa
Marie-Claire Faray, IANSA Women's Network and The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom DR Congo, July 17, 2008

Thank you Mr. President,

Distinguished delegates of UN member states

It is with much interest that the women's network of IANSA followed the different interventions presented since the beginning of this meeting. This is an opportunity to advance the application of the Program of Action for the control of small arms and light weapons, in all its aspects, including gender violence.

The illicit use of small arms includes the offences of domestic violence as well as sexual violence against women.

It is recognised that women are less able to resist or to escape, and even less able to receive help from others, and thus to survive, a crime committed with a firearm.

Incidents of domestic violence involving firearms cause as many problems as violence perpetrated in the streets, and their number increases during and after armed conflicts, due to the illegal circulation of these arms in the community.

We are then encouraged by the states who have successfully harmonized their policies of arms control and their legislation regarding domestic violence. And we urge other states to follow this example. IANSA's women network has formulated some recommendations, translated into several languages, of which you can get a copy.

Mr. President,

Numerous reports and analyses have documented and demonstrated that the illegal trafficking, the availability, and the use of firearms have had a disastrous impact on the lives of women during conflicts which have ravaged the Great Lakes Region of Africa.

Let us take the example of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Sexual violence of an immeasurable atrocity has been made against women with the use of firearms. In the majority of cases, women have suffered physical and mental trauma which exceed all understanding of human nature and human imagination.

Many women were raped in front of their family and community under the menace of a firearm. They have been kidnapped and enlisted by force to serve in the rebels camps as sexual slaves. Consequently, many women have had unwanted pregnancies, some at a very young age, and they have been reduced to a state of human wreckage. There have been cases where child soldiers have raped and killed women (young and old), using their firearms like toys, which give them power.

Mr. President,

Allow me again to take the example of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Resolution 1756 of the Security Council links the illegal exploitation of natural resources and the illicit trafficking of small arms. This has a direct impact on the lives of women, because the majority of these illicit arms are in the hands of assailants who spread anarchy. In April 2008 alone, almost 900 cases of rape committed by armed men have been reported in the province of North Kivu in east Congo. Therefore, you can see that this conference room would be full of raped women.

The cases are so numerous that the Congolese hospitals do not have the capacity to help all the victims who come. Numbers of them do not even dare to go for fear of being disgraced and rejected by their community.

Mr. President,

These cruelties have been made possible because of the proliferation of small arms in the region of the Great Lakes of Africa to quench the thirst for natural resources of some individuals and organised groups. Women have been reduced to a state of non-existence, suffering the terrible psychological and psychosocial repercussions in an environment of absolute poverty.

The continual presence of armed bandits and hidden, non-declared arms in the Great Lakes Region has created very strong insecurity. Women living in absolute fear always feel threatened and cannot assert their demands! They do not know who to trust.

Mr. President,

In addition to the reports of rapes, there are also reports incriminating misbehaving agents mandated to ensure the security of populations and those who were supposed to maintain the peace in times of conflicts. Because of the lack of rigorous control, it is reported that those agents have trafficked and supplied arms to certain armed groups in exchange for natural resources. Therefore, how can we face this insecurity, especially when the trafficking, the sale, and the use of weapons remain uncontrolled, illegal, and unpunished?

Mr. President

It is true that the United Nations has made many efforts, in adopting Security Council Resolution 1325 on the participation of women in the consolidation of peace and reconstruction, as well as the new Resolution 1820 which demands the immediate and complete end of sexual violence in conflict zones. But these resolutions will not be put into action as long as women are the victims of domestic and sexual violence due to small arms outside all control. What would be their relevance?

Mr. President,

Firearms are conceived and perceived as a detonator of death, regardless of whether it is aimed at animals or at humans. Women and children make up the largest number of human victims.

In this year where we celebrate the 60 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we call on the States which have the duty to protect the most vulnerable groups of their populations against the threat of firearms, in particular, the victims of domestic violence and sexual violence.

Mr. President

Distinguished delegates

I thank you again for your attention.

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5. FEATURE RESOURCES

Small Arms Monitor
Reaching Critical Will and the Arms Control Reporter, July 14-18, 2008

During the Third Biennial Meeting of States on Small Arms, Reaching Critical Will, the disarmament project of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and the Arms Control Reporter produced the Small Arms Monitor, an online daily newsletter that comprehensively covered conference proceedings, side events, and ran featured reports from those working closely on small arms issues.

Small Arms Survey 2008: “Risk and Resilience”
Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, 2008

The Small Arms Survey, a project of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, launched its 2008 edition at the BMS on Monday, 14 July 2008. The book, "Risk and Resilience," examines the problem of diversion of small arms in relation to stockpiles, surplus disposal, international transfers, and end-user documentation. It also analyzes the public health approach to armed violence, noting that "the public health approach views armed violence as a phenomenon with identifiable patterns within particular populations," which makes it "able to focus on small groups and to design targeted interventions at the local level."

As the Nobel Women's Initiative led a delegation to Thailand, including the Thai-Burma border, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Chad from July 21 to August 6, delegates blogged the sights and sounds of this important journey and shared photos and video footage of the extraordinary people they met along the way. Delegates and bloggers included Nobel Peace Laureates Jody Williams and Wangari Maathai, as well as Mia Farrow, renowned activist and actor. Joining Jody, Wangari, and Mia on this delegation were Chinese labour activist Qing Zhang; Dr. Sima Samar, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Sudan; and Reverend Gloria White-Hammond, humanitarian and Chair of the Save Darfur Campaign. The objective of the delegation was to hear and relay the messages of women's groups in the regions, call attention to their courageous efforts for peace and justice, and promote effective resolutions to the political crisis facing Burma and the escalated conflict in Darfur. Their blog illuminates the voices and ideas of the exceptional women whose courageous efforts to make change deserve global support, and conveys their messages to other women's organizations as well as to the media and to governments at national, regional and international levels.

BURMA: FREEDOM IN A CAGE
August 5, 2008 – (The Irrawaddy) The American actress and activist, Mia Farrow, visited Thailand recently as part of the Nobel Women's Initiative. While there, she met with Burmese refugees and activists. She discussed her visit with The Irrawaddy in early August.

BURMA: AN INTERVIEW WITY JODI WILLIAMS
July 28, 2008 – (The Irrawaddy) Jody Williams, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, spoke to The Irrawaddy on a wide range of issues including the role of the United Nations in Burma, the humanitarian crisis and targeted economic sanctions. She was in Bangkok in late July with US actress and activist Mia Farrow as part of a Nobel Woman's Initiative Delegation tour of trouble areas in the world.
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Global Justice for Burma Campaign and Petition
The Global Justice Center, All Day Buffet, Serene Communications, the 88 Generation Students, the US Campaign for Burma, the International Burmese Monks Organization, and New Words

Coinciding with the opening of the Beijing Olympics on August 8, 2008, this group of organizations launched an international Global Justice for Burma campaign to bring Burma's General Than Shwe and the military regime in Burma (officially known as the State Peace and Development Council or SPDC) to justice by referring them to the International Criminal Court. The larger campaign kicked off with a series of coinciding “B8 Events” held in art galleries in New York, San Francisco, London, and Delhi featuring contemporary Chinese artists. These events brought together hundreds of members of the Burmese community, global human rights organizations, and other activist and creative communities. Those present at the event made it clear that crimes against humanity in Burma, and anywhere else, will not be tolerated. However, the Global Justice for Burma team emphasized that this event was just the beginning, with much work still ahead to make justice for the people of Burma a reality.

One way to help advance the campaign and to “B8” now is by signing the Global Justice for Burma Petition. This petition urges the United Nations Security Council to uphold its international legal obligations under Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 1820 on women, peace and security and 1674 on civilians in armed conflict by referring the situation in Burma to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in order to end impunity for Senior General Than Shwe and his military junta. The petition emphasizes that the SPDC continues to exercise dictatorial control over the lives of the people of Burma as it has done for over forty years, routinely employing torture, rape, slavery, murder, and mass imprisonment as tools with which to consolidate its power and silence any dissent. The regime is committing the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole. These crimes constitute a threat to international peace and security and impunity must not be tolerated.

How to take action and “B8” now:

7. gender and peacekeeping Update

Women in United Nations Peace Operations: Increasing Leadership Opportunities
Women In International Security, July 2008

United Nations (UN) peacekeeping is in high demand. With a 400 percent increase in the number of peacekeeping missions in the past two decades, the pressure to quickly launch, staff, and coordinate the military and civilian components of multi-dimensional peace operations has never been greater. Despite the urgent need, UN missions have failed to attract, retain, and advance the most qualified talent in leadership positions, threatening the implementation of demanding peace operations. Women, especially those from non-Western countries, are an untapped and potentially powerful resource to staff and lead these missions. Women remain underrepresented in management positions and are rarely appointed at the highest levels of leadership. Why is it so difficult to identify and appoint women to leadership positions in peace operations? This study revealed multiple factors that impede the selection of women at the highest levels of leadership.

This session will focus on increasing the coherence and effectiveness of conflict resolution, peace-building, reconciliation and peace-keeping efforts by focusing specifically on mechanisms to increase the effective participation of civil society organizations (CSOs), political minorities, and, in particular, the full and equal participation of women. Critical questions surrounding, and notable gaps in, the implementation of inclusive peace-building processes will be addressed. Particular focus will be given to efforts to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, adopted in 2000, which recognizes the importance of including women in all peacekeeping and peace-building measures. Participants will focus on mechanisms to close the gaps between rhetoric and policy, and between policy and implementation.

In 2008, ACWS will host the first World Conference of Women's Shelters. This event will present a new opportunity for family violence workers in Alberta and around the world to learn from international experts and each other.

An international working conference to probe and address global acquiescence to impunity, gender violence and exclusion that continues to obstruct peacebuilding and deny human security.

Editorial:

In this edition of the 1325 PeaceWomen E-News we once again take forward the idea that comprehensive implementation of Resolution 1325 requires an appreciation of the broad range of issues within the resolution's sphere of relevance. Our news section (Item 2) provides examples of a diversity of issues from all regions of the world. Many of the news stories relate to the particular impact of conflict on women and the need for protection– including the prevalence of sexual violence in conflicts in CAR and Zimbabwe. The news items on transitional justice processes in Indonesia in Nepal are also reminders of the work being done to end impunity for such violations. There is also evidence of the continuing challenge of working for women's equal political participation – as reflected in the results of the recent elections in Sierra Leone. There are, however, also encouraging signs of progress and exciting initiatives being taken to advance the women, peace and security agenda. These range from consultations with women's groups in Uganda held by the International Criminal Court to a gathering of women's rights ministers in the Great Lakes region to set up a women's rights research and documentation centre focused on post-conflict reconstruction. These initiatives are also a reminder of the need to focus on specific issue areas and to go beyond broad and general promotion or support of SCR 1325.

The focus of this edition of the E-News – small arms – is one such area in which it is important to take a gender perspective and in relation to which it is vital to take into account the interests, concerns and perspectives of women. An opportunity to do just this was provided by the recent Third Biennial Meeting of States (BMS) on Small Arms and Light Weapons, held at the United Nations in New York during July. The Women's Network of the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) took up this challenge and our thanks go to network coordinator Sarah Masters for her excellent review of the meeting and the work of the network and its members in our Feature Event section (see Item 3). Our sister project in WILPF – Reaching Critical Will (RCW) – was also actively engaged in this meeting and our Feature Resources section (Item 5) provides links to the Small Arms Monitor co-published by RCW. Published daily and providing reports and comprehensive coverage of the conference, it is an example of the invaluable work being done by civil society to make UN proceedings accessible and comprehensible to those working on these issues around the world.

In her statement to the conference – this month's Feature Statement (Item 4) – WILPF and IANSA member Marie-Claire Faray emphasized the impact of small arms on women in Central Africa. Her statement gives powerful examples of this impact and the interconnectedness of small arms and domestic and sexual violence. Beyond giving examples of incidence of violence, however, Ms Faray notes the important progress made in harmonizing arms control and domestic violence policies and legislation – a topic also taken up in side events held during the conference. Ms Faray's statement also suggests ways in which the Security Council can meet its commitment to integrate SCR 1325 in its day-to-day work. That is, through ensuring that issues such as violence against women are taken into account in the Council's consideration of small-arms trafficking and the imposition of arms embargoes.

As vital as it is to consider gender and small arms from the perspective of the impact of these weapons on women, the IANSA review notes the dangers of seeing gender as being only about women's vulnerability. Taking gender properly into account means also acknowledging that victims of armed violence are overwhelmingly men. It means also acknowledging women as agents of change and “a key resource in combating such violence.” The role of women as leaders is then the other important aspect of this edition of the E-News. In particular, our Gender and Peacekeeping Update (Item 7) features an exciting new resource from Women in International Security. In examining the challenges limiting women's leadership opportunities within UN peace operations, this report notes that women are, in this arena too, “an untapped and potentially powerful resource.” Women's leadership initiatives and engagement in security issues are also the focus of this month's Feature Initiatives section (Item 6). The blog by the Nobel Women's Initiative delegation to Thailand, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Chad during the course of their journey provides a powerful window into the work of women peacebuilders. Another opportunity for engagement in peace and justice efforts that is also featured here is the Global Justice for Burma Campaign's Petition to urge Security Council action on Burma.

Finally, this month's E-News is an opportunity for us, on behalf of the members of the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, to thank and bid farewell to our group coordinator Gina Torry who has been a valued part of our team for the last 3 years. We are, however, also very excited to be welcoming our new coordinator Sarah Taylor and look forward to working with her and benefiting from her research knowledge and experience – particularly in the area of women's political participation.

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As always, we welcome your contributions to the newsletter's content. Contributions for the September edition should be sent to enewssubmissions@peacewomen.org by Thursday 18 September 2008.

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